Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Sairam Dear all,Happy Baba's day and a very Happy Diwali to all of you .Here is a unique experience shared by Sai devotee Ashwin . Jai Sai Ram.

Dear Manisha ji,

Om Sai Ram. I wish Sai baba always showers his blessings on you and your family. Its been a while since I wrote to you one of my experiences, a whole year in fact. But if you remember you posted my story as under the title -" Sai Baba- His all pervasiveness- experience by Ashwin"I had the wonderful blessings of Shri Sainath at Shirdi this year again and something truly wonderful happened which I can never forget. I believe Sai baba himself appeared and talked to me. Please post this on your blog so that I can share this bliss with others.

As already mentioned in my previous posts I have been doing my Masters in Texas and wished to visit home this summer. A lot of things were made possible in this trip by My Lord SaiRam. But no matter how enjoyable my time was back home, I can only picture one incident which gives me the ultimate bliss. I wanted to visit Shirdi after my Upanayanam- Thread ceremony but things didn't happen quickly, I was adamant that I wanted to make this trip with my Mom as she is also a bhakta of Sainath.

When the eve of our departure to Shirdi arrived , I was a little dissappointed to learn that we couldn't get secure seats in an A/C coach and that mom would have to go through some discomfort or maybe I was being a sissy NRI (as my mom put it). So I made up my mind that whatever Sai Baba ordains happens , and made preparations to leave.

Our first day of Darshan happened peacefully without any long waiting in the queue to Samadhi Mandir, I placed my Satcharita book at Sai baba's feet and we even went and read a few chapters sitting at the Mukh-Darshan place.But we weren't able to avail ourselves of any passes to attend arati in Samadhi Mandir and this kinda put a damper on my spirits bit I told myself being in Shirdi again is in itself a miracle for me. That night, I fell sick and spent my sleep with some body aches and tiresomeness. I was surprised to see that I was alright in the morning and we decided to take darshan again in the afternoon as we were to leave in the evening. AND THIS IS WHERE THE PSYCHEDELLIC MIRACLE STARTS.

As we were preparing to leave for darshan , my mom asks me if I wanted to take Sai Satcharita books along to read again and I blurt out " Nah, Whatever conversations happen today , I speak to BABA directly" and she laughed.We couldn't take darshan again as there was a lot of crowd and my mom who has been operated on her spinal cord cannot stand for too long and so we decied to go buy prasad, visit samadhis of Nanavali and Abdul baba and take mukh darshan again.

When we entering the Mukh Darshan area, I noticed a few kids playing or running around out of the corner of my eye but didn't pay any attention to them. As we sat at a place and began praying to Baba, My mom opened the prasad and was about to offer some prasad to one of the kids who started walking towards us. He pinched a small portion of the pedha and said " Bass, Bahuth kha liya.."

I said to my mom that she probably shudn't have offered prasad like that as the kid didn't know any better and saying no to prasad isn't good.

I started praying and closed my eyes and I saw that the kid was not leaving , infact he sat close to me right beside me and was observing me. He was dressed in kurta pyjama in white and had some tilak on his forehead and looked really like a Pujari's kid.He suddenly asked me"

" Aap yahan pehle bhi aa chuke hain?" meaning Have you been here before. I said " Haan, pichle saal aaya tha...har saal aane ki koshish kartha hoon." meaning I was here last year and that I try to make it once every year and I started praying.He then said " Aap bahuth jaan pehchan ke lagthe hain, esliye main aapse baath karna chahtha tha. Aap ke lambe baal dekh ke laga ki aap pehchaan ke hain."

( I felt you were really familiar because of your long hair and I came here to talk to you.) I smiled and stayed silent.He then asked " Aapka naam kya hai ?" and i replied " Ashwin" and he asked " Aapke maa Ji hain?" pointed to my mom who was sitting on my other side. and I replied " Haan Ji"(What's your name? ....Is she your Mother?)

All the while my mom thought the kid was really cute and was asking me what was the conversation going on between us. Maybe she thought he was an astrologer's kid and was telling me something and she asked what he was telling me. I told her he was asking about me.I kept silent and was praying and he again asks " Aapki koi Ichcha hain?" (Do you have anything to wish for?)and this startled me.I said..(Everybody always has wishes.) and he again goes " Koi badi si Ichcha hain ?" and this shocks me even more and I say.." Bass dosth, parivar and meri man ki shanthi. Sab ke liye shanthi." ( Just some piece of mind in everything for my family ,friends snd me.).

And I fall silent again and the kid still sits beside me and he asks..." Aap kahan se ho?" and my mom replied " Hyderabad se. Aap jaanthe ho kahan hain". ,y mom was talking to him the way adults usually talk to kids of about 8 years of age. Really, he was just a kid of about 8-9 years old.He replied " Haan , aathe rehtha hoon kabhi kabhi" ( I keep coming there sometimes)At this point after staying silent silent in prayer for a bit , I ask him " Aapka naam kaya hain?" ( What's your name?)

I say " Naam pehchana sa lagtha hain magar nahi ..."( seems like a familiar name but i dont know who it is )He says " Aap Pramod More ji ka naam leke Chote Pnadit ke baare mein poochenge tho tho koi bhi edhar mujhe pehchaan lega" (If you ask someone about Pramod More ji and then ask for me anyone here will point me out to you."and he goes on to say Pramod More ji is a respected senior trustee of Sai Sansthan.

By now, I thought he was probably Sai Baba in child's form and I was listening to his every word.So I say " waise ek badi ichcha tho hai- main yahan agle saal phirse wapas aana chahatha hoon , main videsh mein padtha hoon aur agli baar jab aaonga tho hamesha ke liye edhar naukri ke saath vapas aana chahtha hoon and shirdi ko bhi khushi khushi aana chahtha hoon"(There is one big wish of mine- I am studying in another country right now and I would like to come back permanently next time I come with a job and come to shirdi to thank Baba for the happiness) and he says" Zaroor ho jayega "

I go on to ask him.." Aap edhar mukh darshan ke yahan khelthe rehthe hain kya aapke dosthon ke saath?" ( Do u keep playing with your friends around here in this place?)He says" Nahi, main yahan sabse chota hoon. Main bass khule aam ghumthe rehtha hoon mandir mein , " and he winks to say " Apna hi tho hai."(No. I am the youngest here,I just keep roaming around here as I please and he winks to say -This is all ours)

I get psychedellic by now and can't hold on to myself but I stay silent in prayer for more time and I tell him that now I know him I'll definitely ask for him next time I come here and he agrees and gives his name again - Rushikesh.

At which he says " Mere maatha Pitha tho hai nahi...."and I bite my tongue thinking I might have said something wrong and he says.." Pramod More Ji ka naam yaadh rakhiyega..unhi ka beta samajhthe hain mujhe sab log"(I dont have any parents ........Remember Pramod More Ji.Everyone here thinks I'm his child )I say namaste ji, and I tell him it made me really happy to talk to him and meeting him like this .

And my mom was already on cloud nine when she came to know all about our conversation. As we approach the railing and say a last silent prayer to Baba, someone pokes me playfully from behind and I see it's Rushikesh Ji again. He gives me some rose petals and says " Aap zaroor Shirdi aayenge khushi khushi, aapki Ichcha zaroor poori ho jayegi." ( You'll definitely come back to Shirdi and You will defintely realize your wish.)

My mom gets so happy and we make our way after saying our goodbye to Rushikesh ji . My mom stops at a shop to buy some Baba photographs and I hear her say..." You shudnt have come away that soon.. what's wrong with you?" and she starts asking the shopkeeper about Chote Pandit. I feel a little guilty and run back towards the mukh darshan entrance and my mom says " He's not going to be there now" but I run away anyway and when I get to the mukh darshan area I see him sitting peacefully and those kids who I mentioned were playing around in that area were only "trying" to play around Chote Pandit while he was just sittng there peacefully not bothered about them.I go towards him and I say.." Main agli baar jab aaonga tho aap ke liye kya laoo?" (What can I get for you when I come back next time like u said?")and he said.." Kuch bhi lao, khushi ke sandarsh mein.le loonga"(Bring anything in a happy occasion and I'll take it) and I remembered the first few lines of Sat charita quoted from Bhagavad Gita. - WHOSOEVER OFFERS TO ME A LEAF, A FLOWER A MORSEL WITH LOVE. I READILY ACCEPT THAT OFFERING OF PURE HEARTED OFFERING OF THAT DEVOTEE..

I said Goodbye even though I didn't want to and came back lost in bliss.And then I found out that the shopkeeper was telling my mom that they really dont know any kid named chote pandit and the temple authorities dont allow any kids to roam about like that and who ever is working in the temple or is assigned to stay there is in a uniform or is a Pujari.I couldn't help but smile in silence.